Why 30,000 Nigerian soldiers are homeless - Ex-army chief Ihejirika
- Former chief of army staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, advocates for the construction of new barracks and the renovation of existing ones
- He says rotation of troops is difficult due to inadequate accommodation
- Not fewer than five soldiers are reportedly killed by insurgents in a surprise attack on a military base in Yobe state
Former chief of army staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Azubuike Ihejirika (retd), has said poor and inadequate accommodation has left about 30,000 soldiers homeless.
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Ihejirika told the Sun in an interview that the accommodation problem has forced the military authorities to keep troops fighting Boko Haram insurgents for as long as three years in the northeast, whereas they ought to spend between nine months and one year there.
Ihejirika advocated for the construction of new barracks and the renovation of existing ones to solve the accommodation issue.
He said: “More barracks need to be built. Within the three and half years I was in office, we expanded the strength of the army by, at least, 21,000, but we did not build accommodation for the 21,000.
“We built new barracks leading to new accommodations for, at least, 5,000 people; what of the other 16,000? And since I left office, more people have been recruited, so, any fund available for the counter insurgency, a good proportion of that money, if possible, fifty 50 percent, should go to rehabilitation of barracks and construction of new ones, to accommodate the, perhaps, up to 30,000, soldiers currently not properly accommodated.
“Today, they are engaged, tomorrow, they will be disengaged and they will go back to the barracks.
“Due to inadequate accommodation, rotation of troops is difficult. We now have troops in the battle area for two or three years; so, that has to do with welfare of troops generally.”
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The Guardian quoted ‘a credible top security source’ as saying that five soldiers were found dead and evacuated to Maiduguri and about 30 others could not be immediately accounted for after the attack.
The report further quoted an eyewitness Bukar as saying that the attackers struck the base in seven Toyota Hilux vans.
But the Nigerian army, which has confirmed the attack however, denied that it lost any soldier or could not account for some others.
The denials were made by the spokesman of 3 Division, Nigerian Army, in Damaturu, the state capital, Colonel Kayode Ogunsanya, on Monday, January 1.
Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng